German public sector workers to get 6.3% pay rise

German public service employees reached a pay deal following a marathon 40-hour round of negotiations and work stoppages which hit airports and infant schools over the past month, unions said Saturday. Some two million public service employees will see their wages increased by 6.3 percent between now and August 2013. The Verdi trade union and the DBB public service union had been demanding an increase of 6.5 percent, similar to that agreed in the metal industry. Agreement came late Friday following 40 hours of talks between union, state and local authorities' representatives. "It's a big achievement which was won thanks to the determination of strikers over the past weeks," said Verdi boss Frank Birske in a statement. A number of work stoppages affected local transportation, infant schools, and airports in several regions of the country. Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, who took part in the negotiations, said employers went "to the limit of what was possible".